During the drilling of a wellbore, various fluids are typically used in the well for a variety of functions. The fluids may be circulated through a drill pipe and drill bit into the wellbore, and then may subsequently flow upward through wellbore to the surface. During this circulation, the drilling fluid may act to remove drill cuttings from the bottom of the hole to the surface, to suspend cuttings and weighting material when circulation is interrupted, to control subsurface pressures, to maintain the integrity of the wellbore until the well section is cased and cemented, to isolate the fluids from the formation by providing sufficient hydrostatic pressure to prevent the ingress of formation fluids into the wellbore, to cool and lubricate the drill string and bit, and/or to maximize penetration rate.
While drilling, the drilling fluid tends to entrain and accumulate various gases from the earth formation. Examples of such gases can include hydrogen sulfide, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and methane. An over accumulation of such gases can result in decreasing the density of the drilling fluid thereby impeding its ability to maintain the desired hydrostatic overbalance in the well to prevent a blowout. Accordingly, various degasification methods have been developed to remove these gases from the drilling fluid before it is recycled to the well for further use. Such degasification methods result in the generation of moving gas streams for transporting the removed gas for further processing or disposal. These moving gas streams comprise of moist fine particulates which come from the degasification process of the drilling fluid. During the movement of theses gas streams, the moist fine particulates deposit onto process equipment, such as moving blower parts, causing the equipment to malfunction or cease operating.
There exists a need for improved methods and apparatus for the removal of moist fine particulates in moving gas streams.